Romney on Obama's 'worse' economy

After repeatedly saying President Obama had taken over during a recession and made it worse, Mitt Romney now denies making that statement, which makes him look silly. He'd have been better off sticking to his original claim -- which by one important measure is actually true.

Under Obama, the economy has stopped contracting and resumed growing. So the recession is officially over. But most people judge the economy by how many people are working. And that number is pitifully low -- far lower than when Obama took office.

As data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics show, the jobs picture is still very bleak. In January 2009, a year into the recession, the total number of nonfarm jobs stood at 133.6 million. Today, it's just over 131 million -- off by 2.5 million. Despite our growing population, fewer people are working today than 10 years ago.

Republicans and Democrats can debate whose fault that is. But if Romney wants to claim that things have gotten worse under this president, he's got a plausible case.